Game On
by UKHoneyB
Summary: One shot. Josh treats Rachel to an afternoon at the local arcade.


**Credit goes to Akili for the "punk rocker at a UN conference" line **

**Game On**

"Josh, do I really want to know why you're dragging me into an arcade center?"

"I've seen you sneaking plays at _Judo Enforcer 3000 _and," Josh put on an obviously fake British accent, "to be quite honest Miss Leeds, the fact that you have been neglecting your training is showing."

Rachel rolled her eyes at Josh's attempt at a British accent, and let herself be pulled into the den of blinding lights and flashing music which called itself an arcade.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll be a pro at no time," Josh said, moving his way past the claw-grabber machines and the joystick-controlled games and towards the more 'realistic' games.

'Realistic' in the fact that the vast majority of them were using guns.

Rachel glanced over to her left and saw a couple of teenage girls flailing about while staring at a screen, and took a couple of steps forwards to see what was on the screen.

"Dance Dance Revolution," Josh said, coming up behind Rachel. "Synchronize your footsteps with the arrows on-screen. Never could get the hang of it," he added as one of the girls stepped down. The other stayed on the metal pad, selecting something on the screen, then started dancing again.

The difference this time was that she was using both pads, leaning back on the bar and using one hand to support herself while she stepped out the commands.

Rachel raised an eyebrow, looked at Josh and said, "I sincerely hope you're not expecting me to 'dance' on that machine. Although I'm now beginning to see why you insisted on casual clothing."

Indeed Josh had, although he'd nearly fainted when he picked Rachel up: he never thought she actually _owned_ jeans and sneakers. Still, at least she didn't stand out like a punk-rocker at a UN meeting.

"I was thinking something a little less energetic," Josh said, pointing over to one of the nearby machines. The script on the top of the machine read _The House of the Dead 2_, and Rachel watched the sequence running on the screen with disinterest. "Also a bit more realistic to get you used to games," he added, sliding in some money and picking up the gun before holding it out to Rachel.

Rachel didn't move, not even to take the gun out of Josh's hand.

"C'mon, Rach, shooting the zombies isn't hard. All you do is pick up the gun, point and shoot. They're exactly like terrorists: slow, dumb and they don't smell too pleasant, either."

"Zombies?"

"Yes, zombies. Just remember not to hit the civilians."

Realizing that she'd probably get out of the place faster by co-operating, Rachel took the gun and started playing.

Less that a minute later she was starting at a screen flashing 'Game Over' again and again.

"Okay, what you did wrong? The person you was shooting wasn't a zombie."

"Nice of you to tell me afterwards," Rachel muttered, holding her hand out. "I know you're probably going to refuse to allow me to head home so quickly, so I might as well put some more money into the machine."

Josh obliged, and Rachel started again. This time, she got to the fourth humanoid creature before dying.

"For someone who routinely gets their shots within an inch group on the shooting range, you're not doing too well are you?" Rachel just shot Josh a look before replacing the light gun and walking away. "How about a co-op game?" Josh asked, catching up to her. Seeing Rachel's blank look, he added, "Co-operative. I watch your back, you watch mine."

Rachel shook her head and walked away again, muttering something about missions and terrorists...and Josh was certain he heard something akin to 'nanite-enhanced', although that may have been distorted by the arcade noise.

A couple of months later, Josh innocently challenge Rachel to a couple of rounds on _Judo Enforcer 3000_, his jaw hanging open when he was beaten by Rachel within the space of half a minute.

She then revealed that she'd spent a day every other week, when not on missions, down the local arcade and practising.

"Video games don't seem to be as much of a waste of time now, Steel," she said with a slight smirk.


End file.
